Apple Butternut Squash Soup

This hearty apple butternut squash soup is the perfect warm and nourishing soup for a cold winter day.

You may remember my excitement and love for Aldi that I have shared in the past and I am partnering with them again to share a couple of holiday recipes that I created using all of their products. I love Aldi so much because they have an awesome variety, often have healthy products that are hard to find at other stores and are very inexpensive.

I was inspired to create this recipe by my co-worker who is the chef at my nursing home. He is an Italian chef with over 25 years of experience and inspires me a lot with cooking. I used to not be a fan of butternut squash soup until I tried his version. It was incredible and I could not stop thinking about it after I had it.

I asked him for the recipe and he told me the general ingredients that go into it. He used heavy creamy and more butter which I majorly lightened up on and it still turned out awesome! Butternut squash is rich in vitamins A and C and this soup is full of nutrients.

This would be great served for a nice holiday meal or really, for all winter long. What is unique about this particular recipe is that it uses the skin of the butternut squash in it. Say what? That's right, I blended up the whole squash for extra fiber and nutrients and it came out great! If you like, you can certainly peel the squash if you prefer but I dare you to try it with it on. Anytime you can make something more nutritious, do so.

﻿

Apple Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

2 medium butternut squash, halved

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

3 medium apples, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1-2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon black pepper

3 cups milk

Directions:

1. Scoop seeds out of squash. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Drizzle squash in olive oil and sprinkle with cinnamon. Place on a baking sheet and put in oven.

2. Meanwhile, add apples, celery and onion to a pot along with about 2 cups of water. Cook until soft. Add pepper and pumpkin pie spice

3. After about 30 minutes, flip squash. Continue cooking until soft.

4. Remove squash from the oven and scoop squash out of skin. Place in food processor or blender and add about 1 1/2 cups of milk. Puree until smooth. Remove squash from food processor and place in a large bowl.

5. Add the apple/celery/onion mixture to the food processor and add the rest of the milk. Puree until smooth.

6. In the original pot, add the two purees together and mix well. If soup is too thick, you can add more milk or low-sodium chicken broth. If you prefer more flavor, add more cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.

Enjoy!

Pair this with any of the wines from Aldi and you got yourself a delicious meal. I love the Winking Owl wines which are less than $3 each from Aldi! I also picked up a couple of their sparkling wines which were really good! I liked the moscato one.